Abuja – 24 June 2026 - The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs), serving as the Secretariat of Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF), hosted a delegation from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for a strategic experience exchange on sustainable development financing, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with financial support from the European Union. 

The engagement reflects Nigeria’s growing leadership as one of the leading countries implementing the INFF. It also underscores the importance of South-South cooperation at a time when African countries are seeking stronger, nationally owned pathways to finance development, strengthen public institutions and align public and private capital with national priorities. At its core, the exchange focused on one of the defining development questions for Africa: how countries can mobilize, align and deploy financing in ways that deliver real improvements in people’s lives. In a context of constrained fiscal space, rising development needs and growing pressure on public institutions, the engagement positioned the INFF not as a technical framework, but as a strategic platform for reform delivery, investment mobilization and national transformation.

The Ethiopian delegation engaged with Nigeria’s INFF implementation experience, including its political anchoring, governance structure, financing strategy, reform coordination, monitoring systems and emerging sub-national implementation pathway. The exchange also created space for Nigeria to engage with Ethiopia’s evolving experience in sustainable financing, reform tracking and country-platform development. The high-level engagement was convened under the auspices of the Nigeria INFF Core Working Group, with OSSAP-SDGs anchoring the Secretariat function and hosting the Ethiopian delegation. It brought together political leadership, technical institutions, development partners, state-level institutions and revenue authorities to examine how financing frameworks can move countries from ambition to delivery.

Speaking at the engagement, H.E. Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, OFR, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, emphasized the importance of fiscal governance and sub-national financing capacity in accelerating sustainable development outcomes. 

“Across Nigeria, sub-national governments are at the forefront of delivering essential public services. They bear constitutional and primary responsibility for critical sectors such as primary healthcare, basic education, water and sanitation, agriculture, infrastructure, and local economic development. The INFF recognizes that achieving sustainable development cannot rely solely on traditional public financing. Rather, it requires a coordinated approach that strengthens domestic resource mobilization, enhances public financial management, improves expenditure efficiency, leverages private sector investments, and promotes innovative financing mechanisms. Within this framework, strengthening fiscal capacity at the sub-national level is not merely a technical exercise; it is a strategic imperative.”

The participation of the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Professor Taiwo Oyedele, Chair of Nigeria’s INFF Steering Committee, reinforced the strategic link between Nigeria’s fiscal reform agenda and the wider effort to finance inclusive growth and accelerate progress on the SDGs. In his keynote address, the Honourable Minister situated the exchange within a broader continental imperative, stressing that Africa’s development financing challenge requires stronger national ownership, institutional coordination and disciplined execution.

“The Integrated National Financing Framework is not bureaucratic nomenclature. It is a fundamentally different way of thinking about how nations mobilise, align and deploy financing for sustainable development. The future of development financing will not be determined solely by the resources available to us, but by how effectively we mobilise, align and deploy those resources in support of national priorities.”

The Minister further emphasized that Nigeria’s INFF is a multi-layered public finance architecture in which sub-national revenue institutions are integral to success. Linking the framework to the ongoing fiscal and tax reform agenda, he noted that reform must expand Nigeria’s development capacity while supporting citizens, enterprise and voluntary compliance.

Speaking at the workshop, Ms. Elsie G. Attafuah, Resident Representative, UNDP Nigeria, stated: “The Sustainable Development Goals are ultimately delivered in states, provinces, cities, and communities. Schools are built at the sub-national level. Healthcare services are delivered at the sub-national level. Infrastructure investments, local economic development, enterprise support, and job creation increasingly depend on the capacity of sub-national institutions to mobilize resources, manage them effectively, and direct them toward development priorities. This is why strengthening fiscal capacity at the state level is not simply a revenue issue. It is fundamentally a development issue.”

She further added that, “When states strengthen their fiscal systems, they strengthen their ability to invest in people. When they improve revenue administration, they expand the fiscal space needed to support growth, resilience, and inclusion. When they build stronger institutions, they increase their ability to translate policy ambition into measurable outcomes.”

The Federal Government of Nigeria and its partners expressed deep appreciation to the European Union for its financial support to Nigeria’s INFF as a whole. The EU’s catalytic support has been instrumental in moving the framework from design to action, strengthening coordination, technical delivery and implementation across the INFF ecosystem.

Speaking on behalf of the Ethiopian delegation, Solomon Tesfasilassie Tegene, Head of the Ethiopian Delegation, commended the Federal Government of Nigeria, OSSAP-SDGs, the Federal Ministry of Finance, UNDP, development partners and state-level institutions for the depth of knowledge shared during the visit.

“This visit has served as a powerful testament to the impact of South-South cooperation. Over the last three days, our delegations have engaged in crucial dialogues regarding the Integrated National Financing Framework implementation, specifically addressing key thematic areas that are vital to our shared sustainable development goals.”

The Head of Delegation noted that Ethiopia had gained valuable insights from Nigeria’s experience in innovative financing, domestic resource mobilization, governance arrangements, monitoring and evaluation, and private-sector engagement. The delegation also acknowledged the warmth and hospitality extended by the Government and people of Nigeria.

UNDP remains a central implementing partner in Nigeria’s INFF journey, working with the Government and development partners to advance the framework from diagnostics and financing strategy development to implementation, coordination and peer learning. Through this role, UNDP continues to support nationally owned platforms that connect reform ambition with institutional delivery and development results.